Toyota honcho: One reason why Nummi workers are getting $250 million

Bob Carter, vice president and general manager of Toyota Motor Sales, USA Inc., came to the Bay Area on Tuesday, delivering a progress report to 75 Toyota dealers.

The meeting was private, but Carter spelled out some of the details beforehand to my colleague, Tom Abate.

— The company’s 1,223 dealers nationwide are repairing a total of 50,000 recalled Toyotas per day.

— Claims by a Southern Illinois University engineering professor that faulty electronics are causing acceleration problems are “a hoax.” “We are absolutely 100 percent confident that our electronics are sound.”

— Toyota sales in January and February were down significantly, largely as a result of the controversy surrounding the company.

— No sign of a change of heart on closing Nummi on April 1. A “difficult decision” prompted by the withdrawal of GM, which made the plant “unviable.”

— In addition to being the right thing to do for Nummi’s 4,700 workers, said Carter, Toyota’s recently announced $250 million retention bonus is “to make sure that the quality of the cars we get through April are of the same high quality as we’ve gotten for the last 25 years.”